1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for carrying out image processing that removes a removal target component such as acne from a plurality of images representing a predetermined structure such as human face. The present invention also relates to a computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of a technique to remove an unnecessary component in a photograph image, skin enhancement processing for reducing and removing acne and spots in a face region has been known.
More specifically, a method has been proposed for smoothing a small amplitude luminance change such as a wrinkle and a spot by applying and extending an ε-filter that separates and removes a small amplitude high frequency noise component superposed in a signal waveform (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,124). Furthermore, another method has been proposed for carrying out correction by replacing a spot, freckles, acne, or the like specified by use of a pointing device with surrounding pixels (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-331306).
However, the skin enhancement processing described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,124 targets only a specific frequency band. Therefore, wrinkles, spots, and the like that exist over wide frequency bands from high to low cannot be removed completely.
Moreover, the skin enhancement processing described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-331306 is carried out manually. Therefore, this processing requires skills and is time consuming.